Conjunct Chiron and opposed by Jupiter, this is a potent eclipse with the power to stir up old emotions and demand we deal with them, like it or not! In the interests of inner balance, it triggers a cleansing process which may require something of an emotional purge at the outset.

How we experience this process will be largely dictated by our willingness to experience previously avoided or denied emotions, moving through them and out the other side rather than trying to sidestep or prematurely transcend them without having penetrated their depths, which are also ours.

Emotions can be troublesome things, arising of their own accord, muddying our perspective, clouding our view and influencing our behaviour in ways we may regret. But they can also be beautiful, life-affirming blessings, even those which, on the face of it, are less than positive. Whilst grief can feel like a deeply destructive force, its power is testament to the love we have shared and the inexplicable mystery of death that throws every moment of existence into sharp relief. Anger can feel vicious and attacking, but can also be an expression of passionate commitment to live a life that refuses to settle for the numbed-out dumbed-down world that tries forever to suck us in.

This eclipse may stir up the past just when we thought it was all done and dusted, reminding us that our psyche lives not in linear time but on a different plane where decades ago can be right now, memories become real, the future becomes the present and what once we knew as truth is simultaneously the greatest lie. Understanding this fact and knowing our true essence amidst the whirlwind of memory and emotion is an act of power at a time when we are all being recalibrated to live life in a new way.This is an eclipse of destiny, but not in the ‘pre-ordained there’s no avoiding it’ kind of way.

We are our own destiny and this fact may become startlingly and unavoidably apparent at this time. The events of our lives, their twists and turns, challenges and triumphs, are a reflection of our deepest essence and our unique presence in this world. We are force-fields of energy and intent, interacting with the unified field of being woven through all things. The causative factors of events in our lives are many and varied, but we are the common denominator and it is through self-knowledge that we can more fully live, whatever life throws our way.

Nonetheless, we may be tempted into victim mentality at this time, convinced we are being punished or scapegoated, unfairly treated or powerless to effect change in our lives. But we are only victims if we allow something or someone to dictate our state of mind and heart, instead of rising up, sovereign even in the face of our greatest challenge. To do the latter we must understand how our mind and heart works; what triggers our own personal spiral into despair or hopelessness, anger or confusion.

There is simply no time to wait for feelings to change of their own accord now. We must be the masters of our destiny and resolve to be agents of much needed change. And even if that takes a lifetime of self-enquiry and baby steps towards self-mastery, it is a lifetime worth living: one that contributes not more suffering and angst to the collective field but greater wisdom and insightful presence.

Squared by Saturn in Sagittarius, this solar eclipse reminds us that optimism is only optimism when it endures despite all evidence to the contrary! Otherwise it’s just a reaction to positive conditions that fadesas soon as they do. We need to be resilient now, to have faith even in the face of challenge to all that we hold dear and true. These are not easy times and they are not passing ones.

We are in the midst of a powerful and lengthy process of adjustment and transformation, rebirth and recalibration. It will challenge each one of us in our own unique way. What may seem easy to one will feel like death to another. To look around and compare our own lot to someone else’s is meaningless when we are all being pushed and prodded, stretched and challenged in deeply personal ways that may defy mutual understanding.

But the one thing we do have in common is emotions: we all have them, as much as they may differ from one to another. This Piscean solar eclipse urges us to get to know our own inside out and back to front; from side to side, above, below and from their very core. This may be our greatest act ofpower: to wrest control back from the wounded mind and closed heart, investing it in our still and stable centre from which all wisdom and insightful action, all purpose and pure intent is born. It is to this core we are called now: deep within ourselves, through the joy and the pain, the hope and the fear, the memories, dreams and fantasies, into our very essence where all things rest in their own place.

The influence of any eclipse continues for several months so we have some time to do this inner work. The eclipse moment is just the beginning of a process not its entirety. As we navigate our way through the coming six months until the next eclipse season we will have many opportunities to shape rather than be shaped by our reactions to life.

To feel them fully whilst knowing them not as ourselves but as the maelstrom of life within us, like the wind and the rain, a tsunami of feeling or an earthquake of emotion; uniquely us and yet an expression of something far greater that exists beyond the personal. Emotions, this eclipse reminds us, are a force of nature – as are we – unleashed upon this planet to honour and protect her, not confuse, oppress and control.